


Ghost Friend

by Kuji (Amqersand)



Category: AKB48
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Genderbending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-07-16
Updated: 2012-07-25
Packaged: 2017-11-19 12:03:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/573071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amqersand/pseuds/Kuji
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kojima Haruna sees dead people. Only the main characters are listed but other members will make various cameos.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Oshima's Ghost

  
_My name is Kojima Haruna and this might be hard to believe but I can see ghosts. You may think that ghosts are scary things that come get you at night like in movies or see-through beings that you can stick your hand right through but for me, they’re not like that. In fact, sometimes I have a hard time telling apart who is a ghost and who is not. This causes a lot of problems to say the least._  
  
“Haruuuunyaa–!” A small form ran up from out of nowhere and wrapped short arms around Haruna’s waist in a hug. That was one of the ways you could tell if someone was a ghost or not, by the way. People who are alive don’t just appear out of nowhere but sometimes this isn’t a lot of help when you’re someone who doesn’t pay much attention to your surroundings most of the time—like the aforementioned girl.  
  
“Oh Ryoka,” she greeted the girl softly but was wary not to hug her back. By now Haruna had learnt that people looked at you really strangely if you started hugging air in the middle of the street. She was on the way to her first day at a new school so there were quite a lot of people from the same high school passing and she didn’t want them to think she was a weirdo. Going to a new school was the opportunity for her to have a new start.  
  
Ryoka was by appearance, a regular 6 year-old girl. She was adorable, really. Haruna had thought maybe she was a zashiki warashi– a childlike spirit from Japanese folklore that brought good fortune to the homes they stayed in, but it seemed that the girl was looking for her parents. Ryoka hadn’t explained very much but from what Haruna had been told, something was keeping her here instead of crossing over to the spirit world and the young ghost was driven to find her family. Haruna had stumbled upon the young ghost crying just last week when she had been heading back home from a trip to the convenience store and had mistaken her for a lost child. The policeman she’d stopped had been bewildered when she tried to get his assistance and in the end she was forced to make up a story about how the little girl she’d found must have run off or already found her mother in order to not sound crazy... even though the kid had been right there where she had left her.  
  
Haruna had agreed to help but... Oshima Ryoka, huh? Neither ‘Oshima’ or ‘Ryoka’ were rare names but it couldn’t hurt to try so she had done the most obvious thing—fed the name into an internet search engine. There had been a lot of hits, of course but still, it turned out that the little girl hadn’t been so hard to identify after all. Her death had been quite publicised around 3 years back. She wasn’t really sure how to break it to the ghost yet.

 
    
    
        BODY OF KIDNAPPED GIRL FOUND. NO SUSPECTS HAVE BEEN ARRESTED.
      

The kidnappers had gotten tired of waiting for the ransom money so they’d cut their losses and Ryoka had lost her life. There were a lot of rumours flying around afterwards about insurance policies and Mr. Oshima’s financial struggles. The press mercilessly pursued the story until the family had to move, just to get away.  
  
“YUUNII!” Ryoka’s yell broke through Haruna’s thoughts and before she was able to react the little ghost had already dashed past the entrance gates of her new school.  


* * *

  
 _My name is Oshima Yuu. Even though I am nineteen years old– turning 20 this year, I’m still a high school student. Furthermore, although I’ve been told I have a cute face, I’m short and not manly. A product of a broken family. There is nothing special about me at all and it can even be supposed that I am below the average worth of a normal human being. I was a hero once, however. Ryoka’s hero._  
  
“Oshima! Are you paying attention? Answer this question!” The teacher, Togasaki, was exasperated by this student, one he knew from school records used to be exceptionally bright. Now this kid just sat in his class ignoring the world and barely making passing grades. Seeing the blank look on his student’s face made Togasaki realise that he’d be getting nowhere and just slowing down the rest of the class if he pressed the issue.  
  
Turning to the new girl who had joined them just that day, he switched targets. “Kojima, can you answer the question?”  
  
Haruna who had been staring on and off in Yuu’s direction, mostly because Ryoka had been hovering forlornly around the boy since she saw him and ineffectively tried to get his attention, was startled by the sudden inquiry.  
  
“Um...” _Come on, Haruna! This was supposed to be your new start, remember?_ “...aha...ha... what was the question?”  
  
There was some tittering around her as some of the girls who had noticed where Haruna’s attention had been directed giggled. From behind her, Haruna heard someone whisper incredulously, “that shortie?”  
  
Insulted on behalf of her brother at the perceived slur, Ryoka jumped up angrily from her place crouched by Yuu’s leg and yelled at the girl, “Yuunii’s not a shortie!”  
  
In her eagerness to jump to her older brother’s defense, somehow, Ryoka’s ghostly flailing arm managed to knock Yuu’s open pencil bag to the ground, scattering the contents on the floor. Yuu’s eyes widened in disbelief. Did... did that just happen? How? Eyes scanning the room, he caught the deer in headlights stare of the new student. She was seated diagonally behind him, her mouth opened in a small ‘oh’ of surprise.  
  
“Oshima! Can you clean up that mess? If you’re not going to pay attention in class, the least you could do is not disturb it.”  
  
It hadn’t been him. He hadn’t touched the pencil bag at all since he’d removed the one pen he habitually twirled in class instead of listening. No one else seemed to have noticed anything strange... except that girl. Yuu hadn’t caught her name.


	2. More Friends

“I got Yuu-nii yelled at. Ryoka’s no good!” The ghost child was whining away on the shaggy carpet of Haruna’s room while the girl tapped away at her computer.  
  
 _So Ryoka has a brother. He must have been in Junior High when Ryoka was kidnapped._ Haruna hadn’t really seen much mentioned about him in the articles she’d read about Ryoka but since she’d helped Ryoka find her family, her work was done, right? Or not since she was still being stalked—or haunted, if that was the more proper term for it.  
  
Swivelling her chair around so she faced the spirit, Haruna asked, “Ne, Ryoka? Shouldn’t you be with your brother? You wanted to find your family after all.”  
  
“But I don’t want to see Yuu-nii sad so until I have a plan to make Yuu-nii happy, I’m staying with Harunya.”  
  
Haruna sighed but this wasn’t the first time she’d had a ‘guest’ stay with her for awhile and Ryoka was just a kid... former kid. Whatever.  
  
“Say, is this the kanji for your brother’s name?” Haruna waved Ryoka over to her computer to take a look.  
  
“Un! Yuu, as in ‘kind’ because Yuu-nii is the super kindest!”  


* * *

  
“Hey, Oshima, you’re late!” A burly middle-aged man yelled as Yuu rushed past him into the staff room.  
  
“Sorry boss!” Yuu yelled back, “I had cleaning duties after school and couldn’t slip away.” Yuu quickly stuffed his things into the work locker and changed out of his school uniform and into more work appropriate clothes.  
  
“Sakiko’s taking a break right now so let Sae behind the bar know when you’re ready.”  
  
“Gotcha.” There was no reply from the other side of the door so Yuu correctly assumed his boss was done with the conversation.  
  
Making his way out, he waved to the bartender who was a year or two his senior and pointed to the slightly elevated stage at the front of the room, giving a thumbs up. The light music in the room ceased playing when he sat down at the piano. Sucking in a breath, he started playing his first song, Bohemian Rhapsody.  
  
As one song followed another, the next few hours went by quickly and once it hit dinner time, another pianist came in to do the requests for patrons who wanted to sing and Yuu collected his tips jar and went to sit at the bar awhile. The piano lounge didn’t really serve much food but if you didn’t mind the lack of variety, they included a meal to make up for the sorry pay.  
  
Sakiko was already there, talking to the bartender.  
  
“Better keep your guard up, Sakiko-san. Sae already has a bunch of ladies, don’t you Sae?.”  
  
“Shut it, short stuff. Don’t be jealous because I got more game,” the boyish bartender bantered back lightly before turning to other piano player with a smile, “I’d drop them all for you, Sakiko-san.”  
  
“I’ve never seen someone lie with such a straight face before. Tell Inaba in the back I’ll have a club sandwich will you? A normal one, none of his experimental crap.” Yuu felt his stomach rumble softly.   
  
Once his food arrived, he left the other two to continue the smalltalk as he focused on his food. He was only about halfway through his meal when a darkly dressed girl sat on the stool next to his and looked at him intently.  
  
Yuu swallowed his bite of food. “Is there something you need?”  
  
The stranger shook her head and bring the silver cross that dangled around her neck to her lips, she spoke, “I think it is you who is in need. There is a lingering trace on you, of the spirits.”  
  
“What are you talking about?”  
  
“Have you had the feeling of being watched? Or perhaps it’s your home, have strange things been happening there?”  
  
“I don’t know what you’re getting a—”  
  
“You are being haunted. I can sense these things and I offer you my services to get rid of these demons. My name is Black.”


	3. Homes

“Welcome home!” Mayu greeted from the little open kitchen when she heard the sound of the door open.  
  
“I’m back.” The older girl that had entered the small, simply furnished apartment flopped unceremoniously onto the couch.   
  
“Vanquish any evil spirits today, Yukirin?”  
  
“No.”  
  
“I suppose it’s to be expected. Most people don’t even believe in ghosts these days... being a exorcist sure is tough. Maybe you should think about changing jobs.” Mayu put the last dish she had been washing onto the rack to dry before wiping her hands down the front of her pink apron which she then took off to hang on a nearby kitchen hook.  
  
Dropping lightly only onto the cream coloured two seater next to the older girl, she inquired, “Hungry?”  
  
“Mhm.”  
  
The older girl didn’t speak much but Mayu was used to it. Since her parents were away on business so much of the time, it was comforting to have another person in the house even if that person wasn’t very talkative. When she was younger, Mayu used to have a caretaker that stayed with her but since she turned sixteen, she was deemed independent enough start taking care of herself. It didn’t seem like her parents even cared that there was a stranger living in their house... or maybe they didn’t care enough to realise and thought Mayu just happened to have her friend over very often.   
  
It was strange how quickly Mayu felt close to Yuki, considering they only met a few months ago. They met on the train when Yuki had maybe—Mayu wasn’t sure, since it happened so fast—broken the wrist of a groper who had snuck up behind the younger girl in the crowded compartment. The man had then threatened to have the older girl arrested for assault. On the outside, quite proper looking, it was the man’s word against theirs and the three of them had been taken down to the police station. Of course, a quick call to the Watanabe family lawyer quickly had the issue resolved in their favour and that pervert would not be groping anyone soon.   
  
Yuki had refused any sort of reward that Mayu had offered out of gratitude though in the end the younger girl managed to wheedle her into accepting dinner in thanks. It was then that Mayu learnt of Yuki’s situation, that she had moved out of her small town because of ‘a calling’ and she didn’t have anywhere to stay. It was impulsive and totally out of character for the usually critical and somewhat cynical young girl but Mayu invited Yuki to come stay with her.  
  
Now the two of them had something of a routine established. Yuki looked for her jobs while Mayu was at school and attending exam preparation classes and they would meet up after that to eat together. Whoever got home first cooked the meal. Mayu liked to joke that they were like newlyweds and Yuki didn’t disagree—though that was likely just due to her lack of responsiveness in general.   
  
“I’ll set the table.” Yuki was still uncomfortable at times with these surroundings and with living with the younger girl. What she could offer for rent wouldn’t even be enough for Mayu’s monthly anime purchases and the other girl wouldn’t hear of taking it from her.  
  
The two ate in a semi-comfortable quiet.    
  
“I might have found a job.”  
  


* * *

  
Yuu tossed his belongings into a corner of his small one room apartment and lay down on his futon to go through the events of the day. It was the most eventful day he’d had in a long time. That strange new girl at school and then the weirdo with the cross at work who talked about him being haunted. There was that thing with his pencil case...  
  
…but no! It was a scam. Definitely a scam. Those two girls could be working together. Maybe the girl in his class had done something with wires... Yuu’s mind was coming up with all sorts of ridiculous ideas.   
  
_Ryoka... I wonder...?_  
  
Sitting up, Yuu squinted around his room and tried to sense something—though he had no clue even how to sense anything. He cleared his voice and tested, “Um... Ryoka?” He waited to see if anything would happen—but nothing.  
  
“Argh! STUPID!” He buried his face in his pillow. Now he just felt dumb.   
  
“A scam, it’s definitely a scam,” he muttered.  
  
Maybe a small part of him really wanted to believe. Even if she was a ghost, if he could see Ryoka again and talk to her... then he could say how sorry he was that he wasn’t able to protect her.  
  
 **(3 years ago)**  
  
Yuu cycled top speed up to the elementary school Ryoka went to. He was late, having been distracted fooling around with his friends after school. There were not many kids left waiting and he couldn’t spot Ryoka anywhere in the school’s playground where she would usually wait. He saw Ryoka’s teacher though and quickly approached her.   
  
“Urano-sensei! Have you seen Ryoka?”  
  
The teacher shook her head worriedly, “No. In fact, some of her friends were wondering the same thing. We didn’t think she’d been picked up... we already called your mother.”  
  
Yuu felt a shiver of dread run down his spine. “I-I’m going to look for her!”  
  
That day, he’d ridden his bike around the area near his sister’s school looking for her and asking anyone and everyone he came across if they’d seen her until he was completely exhausted. No one had seen anything.


	4. Clash

  
“Bye mom! I’m going now!” Haruna yelled as she left the house for school.  
  
  
“See you later, Yukirin!” Mayu cheerfully called to the older girl before leaving the apartment.  
  
  
Yuu had checked to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything before setting off for school on his bicycle.  
  
  
The three of them soon arrived like many other students to their destination— Akihabara North High School.  
  
“Wuaa, it’s Yuu-nii!” Ryoka ran up to the boy locking up his bike and hugged him.  
  
Yuu shivered a bit as it felt like a cool breeze hit him. Looking around for the source he noticed that the new girl was there again.  
  
“Mayu–!” A voice nearby called and Yuu noted that it sounded familiar.  
  
“Mayu, you forgot your lunch!” A slightly winded Yuki—or Black, as Yuu recognised her as in surprise—ran up behind a smaller pigtailed girl and handed her a cute anime themed bento box. It was lucky for Yuki that Mayu’s school wasn’t too far from the apartment so she was able to catch up to her.  
  
 _...Is Black her mother?_ The incredulous thought ran through Yuu’s head before he got rid of the ridiculousness. _There’s no way..._  
  
“You’re that con artist from the bar!” Yuu pointed at Black who still hadn’t noticed him, all the while with Ryoka, unknown to him, still clinging to his waist.  
  
Yuki’s eyes widened when he addressed her, aware that the spirit—who appeared to be a young girl—clung burdensomely to him. He was being haunted most severely. People who bore the weight of the spirits on them often became sick or in other ways negatively affected.  
  
“I’ll get rid of the spirit immediately!” In contrast to the cross she held, she started chanting Shinto verses which seemed to have an instant effect on Ryoka who had let go of Yuu.  
  
The small ghost seemed to be having trouble breathing even though ghosts didn’t have to breathe in the first place. She had crumpled into a small ball on the ground, shaking her head.  
  
“Yuu-nii! I don’t want to go! I don’t want to go!”  
  
“St-stop it!” Haruna was yelling, not knowing what was going on. Ryoka was fading in and out of sight.  
  
“Yuu-nii!” Ryoka somehow managed to launch herself at her brother and when she hit him, for a miraculous moment, Yuu could swear he saw her.  
  
“Ryoka?”  
  
It was just a flash however and she quickly disappeared out of sight.  
  
Haruna, tired of being ignored stepped right in front of Yuki, blocking her view of Ryoka and Yuu. She she slapped the cross out of the exorcist’s hand with all her strength, leaving it hanging limply on the chain. “Y-you have no right. Ryoka wants to stay with her brother so who are you to take that away?”  
  
A stunned Yuki looked at the girl in front of her. “It’s an exorcist’s job to send the spirits on their way. They have no place here with the living. If you knew about the spirit, why didn’t you send her?”  
  
“I’m not an exorcist,” Haruna gave Yuki a hard glare.  
  
“Yukirin, let’s go,” Mayu, feeling the growing tension, grabbed hold of Yuki’s wrist. “Sorry about her,” she pulled her friend away, bowing to the two older students.  
  
  
  
It was only now that the strange girl and her companion was gone, with things going back to being somewhat normal that Haruna realised they were only just past the school entrance. This means that with all the students arriving, there had been plenty of people around to see the whole bizarre episode.  
  
“Oh my god, that was so weird!” A random female voice blurted.  
  
“Wasn’t that 2-B’s Watanabe from the anime club? Who was that with her?” A boy who had stopped when he’d heard the yelling asked. There was general murmuring from those who had been curious about the commotion.  
  
This was a disaster. More importantly though, had the exorcist succeeded? Haruna worriedly turned back to where she’d last seen Ryoka, only to meet with the gaze of a stony faced Yuu.  
  
“Would you care to explain what is going on?”  
  
“You see—” But then the bell rang. “Class is starting, afterwards I’ll explain,” Haruna made to go but Yuu grabbed her.  
  
“No, I think this is more important than homeroom. Come with me, I know where we can go..” And despite Haruna’s protests, he dragged the girl around the back of the school. “We need to have a talk _now_.”  
  


* * *

  
The baseball team’s equipment shed was naturally abandoned at this time of day. It was also locked but Yuu seemed extremely knowledgeable in the way he maneuvered a close by trash bin to use as a step up to reach one particular window. A window he then expertly eased open for them to climb in through.  
  
“You seem like you do this often.” Haruna commented right after he skillfully helped her down the window ledge.  
  
“Sometimes,” Yuu shrugged. “More importantly, how do you know about Ryoka?”  
  
So much for some friendly small talk. Not that Haruna really wanted to make friends or anything but Ryoka’s description of her kind and wonderful big brother sure wasn’t coming through.  
  
“I know about her because I met her and she talks to me.”  
  
“Talked to you, you mean,” Yuu corrected.  
  
“No... _talks_.” Haruna corrected back evenly. The nerve of this guy. “Look, you probably won’t believe me but I can see ghosts and Ryoka is one of them.”  
  
Trying to think of a way to convince him, Haruna reminded, “She was the one who knocked down your pencil case yesterday.”  
  
Yuu listened carefully to the explanation, his face not giving anything away. “Is she here right now?” His voice was quiet.  
  
Haruna shook her head, “No.”  
  
“Hey, don’t mess with me, okay?” The boy erupted, banging a fist against a steel locker. “Are you and that Black girl doing this together? Because I don’t know where my old man is and I don’t have money for you guys to scam me out of. There’s no leftover ransom or insurance or any of that crap.”  
  
“I’m not trying to scam you, I don’t want any money and I have no idea who Black is.” Haruna had taken a step back from Yuu’s sudden outburst. She was holding her hands up in what she hoped to be a pacifying manner.  
  
“Oh really? Isn’t it just convenient that we’ve moved somewhere there’s no way you could have set up any tricks that now Ryoka isn’t here?”  
  
“Look, I don’t know how to make you believe but that exorcist might have already banished her. When she came here just now, she tried to make Ryoka go away and it might have worked.”  
  
“Whatever.” Yuu pushed Haruna out his way to climb back up to the window. “Close the window on your way out,” with that, he jumped off the ledge.  
  
Haruna heard him land outside and then he was gone.


End file.
